Berlin 2001 – scientific programme

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AMPD: EPS AMPD

AMPD 6: Sitzung 6

AMPD 6.2: Talk

Wednesday, April 4, 2001, 09:35–10:10, H104

Buffer gas loaded magnetic traps for atoms and molecules — •John Doyle — Dept. of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138, USA

Over the past three years we have developed the technique of buffer–gas cooling and loading of atoms and molecules into magnetic traps. Buffer–gas cooling relies solely on elastic collisions (thermalization) of the species–to–be–trapped with a cryogenically cooled helium gas. This makes the cooling general and potentially applicable to any species trappable at the temperature of the buffer gas (as low as 240 mK). Using buffer–gas loading, paramagnetic atoms (europium and chromium) as well as a molecule (calcium monohydride) were trapped at temperatures around 300 mK. In conjunction with evaporative cooling, buffer–gas loaded magnetic traps offer a means to further lower the temperature and increase the density of the trapped ensemble. Future directions include the production of Fermi–degenerate quantum gases, spectroscopy of ultracold molecules, studies of quantum collisions, as well as the production of large Bose condensates and intense atom lasers. Recent results on atomic chromium will be presented.